Warning: This message may turn your world upside down. In light of the shooting of Charlie Kirk, this Sunday we are asking the question, "How should we respond to those who disagree with us?" We will be reasoning from the Scriptures in Acts 17:1-10 using the Apostle Paul as an example, and we want to learn how to kindly and calmly reason with those who oppose us.
How to Answer Your Critics! 1-4
On the Sabbath Paul, Silas and Timothy went to the Synagogue
Paul reasoned with them from the Scriptures.”
We get our word dialogue from The Greek word “Reasoned”
A dialogue is a discussion of the facts to come to an understanding
Paul’s showed them the OT and let them reason with God’s word.
Paul explained his position; He opened their mind to other ideas.
Paul gave evidence for his position; He told them the truth.
…the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.”
Paul preached Christ
Paul explained that the Messiah had to suffer and rise again
The Jews were looking for a political Messiah
The True Messiah was a Savior
That was an unbelievable message to preach in a Synagogue
If true, they had to give their loyalty to Christ as their King.
The Initial Response
4 And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and many of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.
Some of the Jews were persuaded.
A great multitude of devout Greeks joined Paul.
Many leading ladies believed.
They may attack you.
“But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason.”
The Jews were not persuaded by Paul’s arguments.
They became envious because of Paul’s success.
They stirred up worthless men into a mob.
They attacked Jason’s house.
6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.
They dragged Christians into court
The accusation: They have turned the world upside down
They were claiming that Christians are subversive and seditions.
At that time Jewish communities were being stirred up by zealots
7 Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus.” 8 And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. 9 So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
They claimed that Christians were acting contrary to Roman Law
They claimed that Jesus was king not Caeser
However; Jesus kingdom was not an earthly kingdom
But Jesus requires our loyalty above all other loyalties
We call this radical doctrine the Lordship of Christ.
Jason put up a bail bond to insure no more riots would be incited
Paul slipped out of the city that night and down the road.
We won’t win the battle for the hearts and minds of the world with bullets, mobs, attacks, shouting or anger. We must learn a lesson from the Apostle Paul. His method was to have better ideas and he was willing to reason with anyone and everyone about the truth of the Gospel. It hurts us and angers us to see someone like Charlie Kirk made a martyr of because he calmly, kindly and firmly held to the Christian Faith. But we can’t respond the way they respond. Instead, we must adopt godly methods and we pray that people will wake up to the truth because of his death and will say, “I’ll carry on where the Apostle Paul left off!”